Mentions:
1: Whittle, Brian (Con - South Scotland) potential investment from XLCC at Hunterston.Ayrshire College is very keen to deliver the required apprenticeships - Speech Link
2: Yousaf, Humza (SNP - Glasgow Pollok) We have had a good record on employability grants over the years regarding the apprenticeships and the - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Robin Walker (Con - Worcester) We should be looking to make supported internships, or extra support for apprenticeships, as accessible - Speech Link
2: Robert Buckland (Con - South Swindon) As recommendation 7 says, apprenticeships are key.Finally, recommendation 8 is that the Government work - Speech Link
3: Mims Davies (Con - Mid Sussex) and engagement with the Department for Education, whether that is supportive internships or broader apprenticeships - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Robert Halfon (Con - Harlow) of Commons—my maiden speech—was about trying to encourage more schools to encourage students to do apprenticeships - Speech Link
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) educational and (b) vocational training opportunities are not reduced in prisons; and whether he plans to use those training opportunities to help reduce prison overcrowding.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Education is key for reducing reoffending and research indicates that prison education reduces reoffending by 9 percentage points. In September 2023, we set out our plans to deliver an improved Prison Education Service that will support more prisoners to improve their literacy and numeracy and increase the number of prison leavers employed on release.
Over the past 12 months we have seen a sustained delivery in the number vocational courses undertaken by prisoners following increases to 95,000. To ensure the right education and vocational training opportunities are available across prisons we have:
I am pleased to say that we have seen positive outcomes in employment in support of our work to make best use of prison capacity. The proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%and between 2011/12 and 2021/22, the overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.3% to 25.2%.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional Strategic Priorities Grant recurrent funding was allocated to the Office for Students between financial years (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2024-25.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) is funding supplied by the government on an annual basis to support teaching and students in higher education (HE), which includes funding for subjects that are expensive to deliver, such as science and engineering, students at risk of discontinuing their studies, and world-leading specialist providers. The department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high quality teaching and facilities, including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.
In the 2022/23 financial year, the total recurrent SPG funding was £1,397 million. This was increased to £1,454 million for the 2023/24 financial year. The department has recently provided a budget of £1,456 million in recurrent SPG for the 2024/25 financial year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the number of people that are accredited to retrofit residential housing stock.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
To build retrofit workforce capacity, the government has invested nearly £29m since 2021 to deliver around 34,000 retrofit training opportunities. This includes an £8.85m Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition to deliver 8,000 insulation installation and retrofit professional qualifications, and a £5m Heat Training Grant to support 10,000 training opportunities relevant to heat pumps and heat networks up to 2025. The government launched a new Low Carbon Heating Technician apprenticeship in Autumn 2023 and is working with industry to develop occupational standards for insulation and building treatments to create new apprenticeships and T Levels for retrofit work.
Written Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: A flexible Grid for the futureFound: The role of apprenticeships in the clean energy transition When looking at the skills the UK energy
Written Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: A flexible Grid for the futureFound: member of the 'Trailblazer Group' within the Solar Taskforce, which collaborates with Institute for Apprenticeships
Written Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: Preterm BirthFound: New midwifery apprenticeships, primarily for maternity support workers (MSWs) already working in the
Oral Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: A flexible Grid for the futureFound: I welcome the fact the Government have invested billions in expanding the T-level programme apprenticeships